Day starts at 6, breakfast at 7 and on the road by 8. Travelled from Winkler to Vita in mostly sunny skies, a distance of 118 km’s. I will let the pictures do the talking today as there is not much to write about.

I have yet to find a place to set up the tent in Vita. I may just set it up at the park on the main road. If I have the energy I may bike around town to find a better place. Too tired to care very much

Cheryl will bring Kimberly Sunday morning so she can bike the final 100 km’s with me to Buffalo Point. Cheryl will provide vehicle support so I don’t have to lug around 50 pounds of gear.

This will be the last night in the tent.

Dreaming of better sleeps ahead,

Gerald

Motivation was totally lacking once I saw the smoke outside the tent in the morning. Air quality alerts were out throughout the province. Slowly I packed everything up and went on my way.

Stopped in Pilot Mount for breakfast. Played the Mennonite game with the waitress. She knew some people from Winnipegosis, where I grew up.

Cycling today was uneventful. At one point it felt like I found a cruising speed of over 25 kmh. I completed 85 km’s to get to Winkler in time for supper.

The part between Morden and Winkler felt like I was biking on the 401 in Toronto. Very busy, perhaps Friday afternoon was partly the reason.

Interesting fact, I had supper in the place I worked at in Winkler during the winter of 83-84. I was a short order cook at was than the Winkler Motor Inn. I was saving money that winter for my cross Canada cycling trip which I did in the summer of 84. I made something like $4 an hour.

I have many relatives in Winkler, but I don’t know them all that well. I feel most comfortable staying at the campground. This way I can try to get an early start in the morning.

Two more sleeps in the tent till I get home, sleep well body I need the rest.

Gerald

Waking up to the sound and smells of breakfast being made. Conversation continued on till late morning. Packed and ready to go cycling by 11 am.

This is the first time I would be cycling by myself. There was a lot of silence in the day. The sound of frogs, birds, cows and goats helped pass the day away.

Some John Dever music helped push me at the end of the day.

Country road take me home…….

Gerald (daughter less)

Day got off to a slow start as the alarm failed to go off. Packed up and headed to the only restaurant in town for breakfast. Only to discover they are not open on Wednesday. Were these signs of what this day would be like as rain clouds appeared in the distance. Time would tell as we headed down the road 30 km’s to find a restaurant for breakfast.

The restaurant in Melita was like walking into someone’s kitchen in a home. Even witnessed a fire on the stove that she calmly put out with salt.

Stopped in Medora to send an email only to hear thunder in the distance. We found shelter in the local post office to wait out the coming storm.

During our stay at the post office we had 5 customers. Two we scared, one was our boss (worked for the post office). Our boss apologized for interrupting us. One was just in and out. One person asked about our travels and if we were raising money for any cause. He ended up leaving us $20 for MCC.

A couple of hours later we headed out as it was still drizzling. Winds were a real struggle to bike into. As we headed towards Deloraine a miracle on highway 3 happened. Winds totally shifted as we struggled to go 12 kmh, we now coasted easily over 20 kmh.

We arrived in Boissevain just before nightfall. Tired and wet after cycling 114 km’s. We arrived at my cousins place to rest our tired bodies.

This ends Chantel’s ride. She completed 246 km’s in two days. She was a total joy to ride with despite the wind and rain. If you ever need to know a postal code you know who to ask.

Resting our rain soaked bodies in a dry warm bed.

Gerald and Chantel

Teacher Amelia has been replaced by happy go lucky Chantel. Gone are the words posted here that dance in your head. Now the words written by her dad will fall to the pit of your stomach that make it hard to digest.

Chantel was a good sport and got up shortly after 6. Chantel is not a morning person. She fell in love with the early morning riding very quickly. That put a smile on her Dads face.

Battling a south east wind as we headed east proved to be a test of endurance. Did 70 km’s before stopping for lunch in Oxbow where Amelia joined us.

Pulled into Peirson, Manitoba just before night fall. We felt every km of 132 we completed as we lay down for night.

Now I lay down to sleep…….

Gerald and Chantel (2nd daughter riding)

We didn’t take time to play on the slide. The alarm went off and so did we, all 23 kms to Weyburn for breakfast.

The Main Track Cafe can be credited for filling the energy stores that sustained us through most of the day.

The scenery was mostly the same. Trains tumbled over tracks, birds bustled in the breeze and the sun beat down relentlessly.

During snack breaks, chocolate, peanuts, pepperoni sticks and flavoured milk assisted in fuelling our movement. Sunscreen was reapplied and we still got funny tan lines.

With our loads lightened, thanks to Chantel and Amelia’s car, we moved much faster for our last few kms to Estevan. 120 kms were completed today.

Estevan marks the end of Amelia’s participation in this trip. 900 kms done,over half of the total distance for this Buffalo: Jump to the Point expedition and she is passing the helmet.

On Tuesday Chantel will adjust the bike seat on the lapierre to join Gerald for two days of cycling.

A celebratory supper was consumed at the Black Grasshopper, where the pun filled menu catered to all our desires.

Lost in feather pillows on Queen sized beds,

Gerald, and Amelia (and Chantel)

In the light of dawn we packed up our tent and then learned that A&W has surprisingly good breakfasts!

Our stomachs satisfied, we made a quick detour before departing to photograph the talk of the small town, the Red Apple building where the roof had spontaneously (and mysteriously) collapsed.

The windmills waved, cows curiously creeped and the wind whistled past our ears—in the wrong direction…

We had to fight the wind again today. Thankfully, it wasn’t blowing too strong.

Our morning meal (and some snacks) sustained us until we reached Ogema 80kms later. There we discovered the town offers tours on a train and Gerald got an idea about how to celebrate his upcoming wedding anniversary.

After 138 km’s, we arrived in the very small town of Trossachs. Here we prepared hot water for a low-prep packaged meal and set up our tent behind a play structure.

We spent 9 hours and 22 minutes on our bikes today. Making for our longest day of riding yet.

Sore and snoring,

Gerald and Amelia

We woke with the sun and shivered over our portable stove cooked breakfast. Just before 7:30am we set off, into the sun, still shivering from the cold.

About an hour later we came to the small town of Ponteix. We detoured 2km into the town to find hot beverages and some more snacks.

Amelia contently caffeinated and Gerald stocked up on oranges, we continued on our way.

Grasshoppers danced on our legs while little bugs kissed our arms and faces. We observed more vast fields, a variety of road kill, and had two different dogs try to befriend us. One even licked Amelia’s leggings!

At one point, while attempting to cross a railway track, Amelia got her angles wrong and took a spill. There were a number of vehicles on the road at this point and many stopped to ensure she was alright. (She was.) One gentlemen even sacrificed the cleanliness of his hands to replace the bike chain that had come off.

The experience was very humbling for Amelia and invoked a deep sense of gratitude, especially for those kind-hearted souls that stopped and kept asking if she was alright.

With nothing but a small scrape on her knee, Amelia pedalled to catch up with Gerald, who was about 2kms ahead of her at that time.

Supper was consumed (also with much gratitude) at Nash’s Restaurant and Lounge in Assiniboia. 135kms were completed today. Considering it was all against wind, and our average speed was 15km/hour, we feel we didn’t do too bad!

On our way to the nearby campground, Gerald lost his balance and both he and his bike went down. Thus, we both managed to fall off our bikes today, and are (thankfully) still doing quite fine.

Now we will sleep with a view of the stars, since the ground here is much too hard to stake the pegs required to secure the tent’s fly.

With gratitude and a lack of balance,

Gerald and Amelia

Last night Gerald had booked a taxi and called a bike store owner to ensure he had the correct tire size. This morning, after sleeping in, Gerald travelled to Swift Current with his bike tire while Amelia braided her hair and finished packing up the tent.

After a meal at Empire Restaurant (the same place we had eaten the night before-yes, we develop favourites) we left Gull Lake. It was almost 1pm, but Gerald had two full tires.

We had a blissful day with comfortable temperatures, decent cloud cover and beautiful views. Our eyes swept over the rolling fields as we masterfully geared up and down to accommodate the terrain.

93.5kms later we reached Cadillac. We had our dinner at a tavern where we had to order takeout just to eat outside and then speedily set up our tent in the campground nearby.

With gratitude for an uneventful day,

Gerald and Amelia

The rest stop where we stayed the night was more populated with campers and vehicles in the morning. This was proof that we aren’t the only ones that appreciate free camping!

Fueled by oatmeal, we set off to chase the rays that appeared to descend from heaven through the clouds.

It wasn’t long before we were stopped again. A nail had gone right through Gerald’s back tire.

The tire repaired, we pedalled on.

The sky was overcast most of the day, but it wasn’t until fat rain drops started to fall that we thought of getting out our rain gear.

We scrambled to cover our bags and don our jackets. Of course, it seemed that as soon as we were fully prepared, the rain blew over. The rest of the day the rain came and went, but our rain protection remained on.

About 6km from Gull Lake, the pressure in Gerald’s back tire went down. He cycled slow to a restaurant in the town, avoiding a complete flat, but walked his bike from the restaurant to the campsite. Much of the evening meal was spent figuring out how to get a new tire. With plans in place, we’re going to bed in a campground in the community of Gull Lake. All I will say about that for now, is that Amelia is looking forward to sleeping in a bit more tomorrow.

Damp and (slightly) discouraged,

Gerald and Amelia